COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 11, 2009) – The competition was fierce on Saturday when UC Irvine defeated USC in the final of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship (26-30, 30-23, 26-30, 30-17, 15-12) in Provo, Utah; but players from both teams can claim ties to USA Volleyball’s high performance beach and indoor programs.

From UC Irvine, senior setter Ryan Ammerman (Parker, Colo.), who was named the tournament MVP, has worked with both the indoor and beach HP programs. In 2003, he was an alternate for the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team and MVP of the U.S. Developmental Camp.

In 2008, Ammerman and Irvine teammate Taylor Wilson (Mission Viejo, Calif.) were selected as part of the beach training team for the 2008 World University Championships.

From USC, freshman outside hitter Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) competed in the 2008 FIVB U19 Beach World Championships in the Hague, Netherlands, where he and partner Jeff Carlson (Newport Beach, Calif.), who is a freshman setter for USC, finished second.

This year, Ciarelli is a member of the U.S. Junior Men’s Indoor High Performance Training Team and could be selected to compete at the FIVB Junior Men’s World Championship in Pune, India.

Carlson was also a member of the 2008 U.S. Men's Junior National A2 team.

Here are other members of each team who have participated in one of USA Volleyball’s high performance programs (please let us know if we have missed any players or made other errors).

UC IrvineCole Reinholm (Jr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.): MVP of the High Performance Volleyball Camp in 2005; Member of the 2006 Boys’ Youth Training Team; Played on the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team in 2007.

Jordan DuFault (So., Lakewood, Calif.): Member of the 2005 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Training Team.

Carson Clark (RS Fr., Santa Barbara, Calif.): Member of the 2006 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team.

Austin D’Amore (Fr., Laguna Hills, Calif.): Member of the 2009 U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team; Played on the Men’s Junior National Training Team in 2008 and the U.S. Youth National Team in 2006 and 2007.

Kevin Carroll (So.; Los Alamitos, Calif.): Two-time member of the U.S. Men's Junior National Team.

Cory Yoder (So.; San Clemente, Calif.): Played on the 2005 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Volleyball Team.

Kenny Webster (So.; Huntington Beach, Calif.): Trained with the 2006 U.S. Youth National A2 camp and was selected to play in the Global Challenge Tournament.

Will Montgomery (RS; Santa Barbara, Calif.): Took fifth place at the 2008 U19 FIVB Beach World Championship with Maddison McKibbin (Honolulu, Hawai’i), who will start at USC next fall. Montgomery also competed at the 2007 U19 Worlds in Myslowice, Poland and the 2007 U21 Worlds in Modena, Italy.

USCC.J. Schellenberg (Sr.; Pacific Palisades, Calif.): A member of the 2004 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team and 2003 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team.

Ian Wright (RS Fr.; Belmont, Calif.): A member of the 2007 U.S. Boys' Youth National Training Team.

Brad Keenan (RS Fr.; Manhattan Beach, Calif.): A member of the 2006 U.S. Boys’ Youth National A2 team.

Luke Morris (Sr.; Laguna Beach, Calif.): A member of the 2007 U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team.

Jon Hackett (Jr.; Rochester, N.Y.): A member of the 2006 U.S. Men's Junior National A2 team, 2005 Youth National A2 team and 2004 Youth National A2 Training team.

Murphy Troy (So.; St. Louis, Mo.): A member of the 2006 and 2007 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team, 2008 Men’s Junior National Team and 2009 Men’s Junior National Training Team.

Riley McKibbin (So.; Honolulu, Hawai’i): Represented the United States at the 2006 FIVB U19 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Bermuda finishing 17th. Riley’s younger brother Maddison, who will be a freshman at USC next year, took fifth at the 2008 U19 World Championships with Will Montgomery, a freshman who is redshirting at UC Irvine.

Austin Zahn (So.; Hermosa Beach, Calif.): A member of the 2005 Boys’ Youth National Team and the 2006 and 2007 Men’s Junior National Teams.

Tri Bourne (So.; Honolulu, Hawai’i): A member of the 2007 Boys’ Youth National Team and the 2008 Men’s Junior National Team. He is an alternate for the 2009 Men’s Junior National Team.

Steven Shandrick (Fr.; Lake Forest, Calif.): A member of the 2009 Men’s Junior National Training Team.

Hunter Current (Jr.; San Jose, Calif.): A member of the 2007 USA Junior National Training Team, the 2006 U.S. Men's Junior National team and the 2005 U.S. Boys' Youth National A2 team.

Tyler Stevens (So.; Miami, Fla.): A member of the 2004 USA Volleyball Boys’ Youth National Team.

Several members of both coaching staffs have also been involved with USA Volleyball’s programs.

UCI Head Coach John Speraw was the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team in 2005. He served as an assistant for the Youth National Team (1998 and 2001). He was also an assistant with the U.S. Men’s National Team (2007-08).

USC Head Coach Bill Ferguson has worked extensively with the high performance youth and junior A2 programs.